Featured Project

Light Rail and Tram Operations Support

Dublin's Luas is a modern efficient tram system operating under a private partnership multiyear concession

Locations: London, Manchester, Dublin, Amsterdam

In the urban transport fields of light rail, metro, and tram, LeighFisher provides operations and bid support to urban transport operators, and procurement support to government agencies. In the UK, Ireland, and Europe, we have provided a range of services, from rail financial and economic business case development, through operations and performance modelling, operations costing, and rolling stock specification, to rail procurement strategy and implementation advice. Our experience in rail franchising as well as of concessions in light rail/trams is supported by strong analytical and bid management skills. These skills are bolstered by our thorough knowledge of the risks associated with franchise/concession bids and potential commercial and engineering issues.

In Dublin, we were retained as technical advisors on the design and implementation of the initial Luas Light Rail contracting process. We led a multi-company team of advisors to design the concession specifications related to operations, risk and revenue management, and the performance regime. Then, in a second phase, our team conducted the competition to let the operating concession on behalf of the Railway Procurement Agency (RPA). We have also supported the RPA and the National Transport Authority with various procurements and commercial analyses using our experience in rail procurement strategy.

In the UK, we have worked on a range of urban metro projects including:

Providing rolling stock specification and operations cost modeling for a bidder for the Manchester tram concession

Supporting bidder for the Leeds and Sheffield tram concessions on operating costs and technical specifications

Writing the technical specifications for the Croydon tram system

Resolving technical problems on the initial design of the Docklands Light Rail signalling system

In the Netherlands, we have supported the City of Amsterdam tramway department with the provision of business planning advice, assessment of asset ownership options, and development of an asset management system and budgeting tool.

Key Highlights:

Getting the Docklands Light Rail up and running by successful resolution of the critical signalling issues